With my recent gig as a toe talk ambassador, I've started thinking...do you have a mantra? You know, something that helps you through the tough times? The hard times, the times you want to give up? How we talk to ourselves is important. Language is important. Kind self-talk will help create the movement you want in your body to move with grace and ease.

Every toe talk has a story - Inhale/Exhale, Warrior Chick, Be Mindful... and the stories we tell ourselves are important. The way you move tells your life story. Do you breathe with your spinal articulation? Do you let your spine unwind? Tell yourself you can and you will. Are you strong and determined? Do you love a challenge? Then you are a warrior. Tell yourself you are and you will be one. The stories we tell about ourselves become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But if you could choose a mantra, what would it be? It's easy to pick any of the Six Pilates Principles - Concentrate, Be Precise, Center, Control, Breathe (There's a sock for that!), or Flow. Ones I've used in the past include: I Love the Burn, Just Four More (to be used when there is more than four), and Sprint to the Finish.

But do you know what the most effective one was? After I had my daughter, it was. so. hard. Hard to find time to workout. Hard to find the energy. Hard to build my connection to my body back. I wasn't used to it being that hard. And do you know what I did when my workout was particularly challenging? I would close my eyes and picture her smile. Seriously. And if I could see her baby joy in my mind's eye, I could do anything. So maybe my true mantra is Love. Or Joy. Or Giggle. What's yours?